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Hachioji Park, Sat 16th Dec. The last TML game for the Jets before the Winter break was a Cup fixture against the league leading Tokyo Hibs. Would this match be a precursor to the Internacional –Barca World Club Cup upset or Gutrot’s West Ham’s unlikely win against Man U? Well, unfortunately, the Jets were without our #1 keeper Kosuke, our two central defenders, several useful midfielders, and last year’s leading striker. Nonetheless, we have depth and numbers this season and went into the game with the ideas of keeping it simple, playing hard, and having some fun. After all, we were at home ground Hachioji and due for a bit of holiday luck this season. In other words, we had nothing to lose.
From the kick off the Jets pressured and, in the first few minutes, the Hibs were caught napping defensively --and from that the Jets produced 2 clear-cut opportunities on goal. The first was a blasting drive which went high over the bar and shortly thereafter, with only the keeper between two Jets and the back of the net, Yoshi looked left and smoothly rounded keeper to the right, but was outpaced by the ball and couldn’t tap it in from a sharp angle. A Hibs defender went down on that play, but hopefully his injury isn’t as bad as it seemed initially. Anyway, the Hibs seemed to wake up after that and started to show some of the ball movement and passing that put them at the top of the TML table. The Jets, for the most part, held the Hibs football machine in check with some disciplined team defence. 6 feet 13 inch Jack, with his tenacious midfield tackling and his dominant performance in the air, had a stand-out game. Captain Mark ”he ‘s offside “ Eite anchored a solid (flat 4) back line and frustrated the Hibs forwards, with a risky, yet very effective, offside trap plan. Filling in for his big brother, Eisuke probably had his best game in a Jets uniform. He confidently came out and challenged the opposing strikers, played error-free when handling the Hibs’ long-range attempts, and made a spectacular save off a one timer (off of this writer’s weak clearance). Offensively, Zizou Sasa sent some nice long passes into space and Shimi/Ryan made a few cutting runs as well. At about the 35th minute mark though, the league leaders finally broke through by stringing some passes in and around the box and finishing with a low, hard drive though traffic and into the bottom left corner of the net. Jets 0, Hibernian 1. Just before the halftime break, the Hibs also were awarded a penalty, but the PK taker just passed it back to Eisuke for an early Christmas gift.
In the second half the intensity of the match dipped a bit, but the Hibs still attacked in waves and the Jets still looked dangerous, on occasion, in the opposing half. The boys in black and green moved forward well and might have scored again, but were perhaps too often a tad guilty of trying to thread the needle or making a few passes too many. In the dying minutes of the match, the most mild mannered of Jets, Chris, found himself chasing the ball at the edge of the Hibs’18yard box. Chris used his spidery long legs to flick the ball past the charging Hibs keeper----who missed the ball and introduced Chris to the Hachioji turf. No whistle. Chris, with his face glowing yuletide red, proceeded to spread Christmas cheer to the ref and everybody else. Still no whistle for a PK and no chance of a Christmas upset. Finally, in the dying seconds, Ryan, spotting saw the keeper off his line, and tried a repeat of his 40yard punt for a goal earlier this year at Hachioji, but it sailed wide this time. Final Score: Jets 0, Hibs 1.
Report by Simon Benz.
In conclusion, the Jets played well and with good spirits against quality opposition, but, as has been the case in the last few games, came up short. I daresay we did experience somewhat of a victory at the Yakitoriya after the game, however. We drank big manly pints of beer while the many of Hibs at the table next to us drank dubiously pink cocktails instead(I hope that is not the secret to their success). Happy Holidays to all the Jets(and their families,), the Hibs, and all the other teams in the TML . Hohoho
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